Archaeologists in southern France studied bones that cover 8000 years to reveal how humans made domestic animals increase in size, while wildlife diminished.
Over time, the overall size of the animals is changing. This is normal in evolution. Sometimes environmental factors can cause a species to decrease in size; A century later, animal descendants can grow again.
The investigators observed alternating periods of increase and decrease over thousands of years. When humans were introduced into society and began to create certain species, the sizes of wild and domesticated animals still developed approximately in the same cycles.
But all this has changed in the Middle Ages, as scientists at the University of Montpellier discovered in southern France. O was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on September 1, 2025.
Research team findings show that during the Middle Ages and the modern era (approximately 1000 to 2000 AD), the evolution of body size of domestic and wild animal species diverged.
“Wild species diminished in body sizewhile domestic species have increased, ”Allowen Evin, one of the study’s authors, told DW.
The foxes and the rabbits decreased in size, the sheep and the chickens grew
Species of wild animals, such as deer, foxes, hares and rabbits, diminished in size because their forest habitats decreased or fragmented due to the growth of human villages. The intensification of hunting, which began in the late Middle Ages, also contributed to the process.
“At the same time, human control over domestic populations increased, with a higher specialization and selective playback More systematic under controlled management practices, ”said Evin.
Among the domesticated species that increased in body size were sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and chickens.
The results of the research team show “the deep and lasting prevalence of environmental influences on all species and the growing impact of human activities during the [passado] Millennium, ”write the authors.
Human influence on nature “has constantly increasing”
To understand the size of animal species, scientists analyzed 225 780 bones of 311 sites in southern France, covering the last 8000 years. Originally, they would analyze only domestic species, as their investigation is part of a European investigation council project that focused on “eight millennia of changes in plants and domestic animals.” But, as they found a richness of information about wild species, expanded their work, resulting in a large scale comparison.
Evin and his colleagues believe that deciphering the evolution of animals into connection with human development tells us a lot about our own history.
Over the last millennia, “human influence [no mundo natural] has been constantly increasing, ”said the bioarqueologist.“ We are convinced that understanding our past – and how humans evolved and coevolved with other species and their environments – it is essential to understand the origin and development of our modern societies. ”
